Spacecraft orbit insertions
Data as of 2026-10-15
A spacecraft is in orbit around a body when it no longer has the energy to leave it: its speed relative to the body falls below the escape speed at its distance. These instants are measured on the true trajectory of each spacecraft Galaxy follows, inside the sphere of influence of a planet or the Hill sphere of a small body, and only the first one counts: near a small body, proximity manoeuvres cross that threshold again and again.
| Date | Spacecraft | Body | Distance from centre (km) |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 25, 2003 | Mars Express | Mars | 4,379 |
| July 1, 2004 | Cassini | Saturn | 80,261 |
| September 10, 2014 | Rosetta | Churyumov–Gerasimenko | 29.3 |
| July 5, 2016 | Juno | Jupiter | 78,444 |
| October 19, 2016 | ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter | Mars | 6,397 |
| December 31, 2018 | OSIRIS-REx | Bennu | 2.1 |
These arrivals have no page:
- BepiColombo at Mercury: on the published trajectory, it is already bound when it enters the sphere of influence, a ballistic capture with no instant of crossing to publish.
- Hayabusa2 at Ryugu: the trajectory Horizons serves jumps discontinuously near the body, and no instant can be read on it.
- Hera at Didymos: the published trajectory ends before it is bound.
- Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer at Jupiter: the published trajectory ends before it is bound.